


Five Times Steve and Claudia Ended Up in Bed Together

by lionessvalenti



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: 5 Things, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Near Death Experience, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-04
Updated: 2013-01-04
Packaged: 2017-11-23 13:50:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/622867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A friendship or romance fic (depending on how you'd like to read it) where Steve and Claudia are forced to by circumstance or willingly choose to share a bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Steve and Claudia Ended Up in Bed Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [atthestars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/atthestars/gifts).



1.  
Steve watched as Claudia's eyelids drooped. She'd been sitting in front of that computer for hours now, the search going through all of their files on currently known artifacts that they had yet to retrieve.

Pete and Myka were on tracking _something_ in Toronto that was causing people to swap memories. They had hit so many dead ends that Artie had flown out to assist them while Claudia and Steve played researchers back at the Warehouse. Claudia was going the route of the computer files, and Steve was digging through the hard copies Artie used.

However, they weren't any closer now than they had been eight hours ago.

"Do you think this could be something that isn't in the books?" Steve asked.

"Huh?" Claudia jerked awake and swiveled around in her chair. "What'd you say?"

"I asked if you think this something we don't know about. We know that artifacts don't just come from history and celebrities. It could be anything. I mean, that search could go on for days."

She shook her head wearily. "We don't have days."

"And you're falling asleep at the wheel," Steve said. He got up and went to Claudia's side. "Why don't you get some sleep? You can use Artie's room. If the computer finds anything, the alarm will go off."

"But--"

"No buts," he said. He wrapped a hand around her arm and pulled her to her feet. "You need to sleep. You won't be able to help them if you're not on top of your game. Getting rest is part of that."

Claudia looked like she was going to protest again, but maybe realized she was too tired to even fight him. "A quick nap might be a good idea."

Steve was pretty sure that once Claudia got into bed it would probably go a lot longer than a quick nap, so he nodded. "You don't want to burn out."

He walked with her into Artie's room where Trailer watched them from the corner of the room in his own little dog bed. Claudia sank onto the bed and kicked off her purple sneakers. "Are you coming?"

"What?" Steve asked.

"You've been awake just as long as I have. If I'm napping, you're napping."

He blinked at her. "In the same bed?"

Claudia rolled her eyes as she climbed into the bed. "I don't have cooties. I'm not going to get my icky girl parts all over you."

He rolled his eyes right back at her. "I was more worried about your cold feet."

"I'm wearing socks," she replied, already sounding half asleep. She pulled the blankets up over her shoulder. "Come on, Jinksy."

Steve considered her for a second, and she definitely wasn't wrong. He was just as tired as she was. So, he sat down and untied his boots before climbing in after her. The mattress sank in the middle and they leaned against each other. If Claudia's feet were cold, he wouldn't have known it because the rest of her was like a furnace. He slung an arm over her and pulled her closer. He probably should have warned her that he was a cuddler, but he drifted off before he could say a word.

2.  
"Are you kidding me?" Steve asked the young woman at the B&B in South Carolina. It was the only place to stay in the small town, the Motel 6 more than twenty miles outside the city limits. By Univille standards that was practically next door, but with an artifact in town, they wanted to be as close as possible.

"It's tourist season," she replied. The peeling black-and-white label maker sticker on her name tag read "Betty", and Steve wondered if that was her real name or just a name they gave her to sound Southern. She looked way too young and blonde to be a Betty. "I'm sorry your second room got double-booked, but you were a last minute add-in."

Steve sighed and looked over his shoulder at Claudia. She shrugged and adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. He turned to Betty and smiled. "At least tell me there are two beds."

Betty's face crumpled. "I'm sorry. It's just that this is a place mostly for couples and romantic weekends. We don't usually--"

"Don't make the poor girl cry," Claudia said, stepping up next to Steve. She smiled. "It's fine, Betty. We can share for one night. It's not the end of the world."

"I can take twenty percent off your room," Betty said quickly, maybe relieved that no one was going to shout at her. She handed Claudia the metal key that was attached to an exaggeratedly large plastic tag. "And breakfast in the morning is free."

"Thank you," Claudia said, and they headed upstairs. "Why did you have to be such a poopypants to her?" she asked when they got into their room. It was a cozy, the queen sized bed taking up most of the space. The only other furniture was a small white dresser that was jammed into a corner next to the closet.

"We're professional government employees," Steve replied. He sat down on the floral bedspread. "Why should be able to have our own rooms."

"Government employees, sure." She bounced on the bed next to him. "Professional, now, that might be up for debate. You've met Pete, right?"

Steve harrumphed a laugh. "Maybe, yeah. What do you think are the odds of getting through the night without some artifact hijinks happening, anyway?"

"Very slim," Claudia replied. "So we better get some sleep while we can."

They each took a turn in the bathroom. Claudia went first and by the time Steve walked back into the main room, she was sacked out on the bed, asleep, clutching her Farnsworth to her chest.

He smiled and pulled the blanket up over her shoulders so she'd stay warm before he climbed in after her. He shut off the light and snuggled next to her. One night wouldn't kill them, and actually, it was kind of nice. Maybe Betty knew best.

 

3.  
Steve cracked open an eye, looking at the sun shining through the curtains with disdain. It was a beautiful day, no matter how cold, and he felt like absolute crap. Hungover, awful crap, with his mouth tasting like something had crawled in there and died.

Carefully, trying not to disturb his very sensitive head, he rolled away from the window and next to him in bed was Claudia. And if her back was any indication, she wasn't wearing a top.

"What the shit?" Steve asked, recoiling. His mind raced. How drunk had he been? How drunk had Claudia been? He remembered the drinking. It had been Claudia's 21st birthday, and in honor of that, he bought her two bottles of Jameson.

"One for now and one for later," he'd said.

The party had been a lot of fun, but when Claudia opened one of the bottles, Steve noticed Pete had casually left. Myka had a couple shots, declared herself too old for this, told them to have fun, and went to bed.

How much fun did they have, exactly?

"Claudia?" Steve asked. Carefully, he reached out and shook her bare shoulder. "Claud, wake up."

Holding the blanket over her chest, Claudia rolled onto her back with a groan. "Morning, Jinksy."

She seemed pretty casual, and not hung over in the least. Was this what being a few years younger could do for someone? He remembered being able to drink all night and wake up with nothing more than a dry mouth.

"Claudia, did we..." Steve motioned back and forth between the two of them.

Her eyes widened. "No! No, god, Steve, what the hell? Do you really not remember what happened?"

"No, I... I drank a lot."

"Yeah, so did I, but I know what happened. And nothing happened. We drank, we came up here, we fell asleep. Do you usually sleep with girls when you're drunk?"

"No," Steve replied still not feeling very relieved, "but why are you in my bed? Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"We went outside and you pushed me in the snow -- I can't believe you don't remember this. My shirt was soaked, so when we came up here, I took it off. And then I slept in here because I was freezing. You felt bad."

All of this seemed familiar. Now that she mentioned it, he definitely remembered being outside, and marveling at the six inches of snow on the ground.

The expression on his face as he processed this must have been hilarious, because Claudia started laughing at him.

"Get your mind out of the gutter! It was all perfectly innocent, I promise. Nothing weird happened."

" _This_ is pretty weird," Steve said, and she laughed again.

"It won't be really weird until I tell everyone that you assumed we had sex, because this is too good to keep secret." Claudia got up, pulling Steve's comforter with her. "But I need to brush my teeth first."

Steve fell back against his pillows, not sure what kind of teasing he was going to hear for the next few days, but it would probably be worth it.

4.  
Steve's hands shook as he drove back to the hotel. He glanced over at Claudia who was curled into a ball in the passenger seat.

"Keep your eyes on the road," she mumbled.

He had no idea how she knew he was looking at her. Her eyes were closed and her face turned the other way, but he did as she asked.

This wasn't the first time he'd been involved in a hostage situation, but it _was_ the first time he'd been involved in one where Claudia was the hostage.

Steve had aimed his gun -- not a Tesla, but his ATF-issued gun -- at Nigel's head, the only possible clean shot he had as Nigel used Claudia as a human shield. He didn't want to kill anyone, but Nigel had an artifact, one that could kill Claudia if it came in contact with both her skin and his. It was a last resort, but one that he was willing take if he needed to.

They'd survived, of course. Nigel had been arrested by the local authorities and the artifact had been neutralized. Claudia was safe now, but Steve couldn't quite shake his fear. He'd done many things to protect Claudia, including his own death, but this was the closest he'd ever come to failing her.

He pulled into the motel parking lot and turned off the car. Their flight was first thing in the morning, and they only had a few hours to catch a little bit of sleep. Steve wasn't sure if he'd get any rest at all.

"We're here," he said.

Claudia looked up at him. "Are you okay, Jinksy?"

"I should be asking you that," he replied.

She smiled a little bit. "I'm fine. Nothing bad happened. We're okay."

"We're not okay. You could have--"

"And I didn't." Claudia popped open the passenger side door. "How about you crash in my room? There's two beds and you can see exactly how fine I am."

Steve was about to tell her no, but who was he protecting? Himself? His pride? He didn't have any pride left. Just the urge to keep an eye on Claudia and feel assured that, yes, she was alive and well. "That's a good idea."

He went into his own room first, gathering up all his stuff. He turned off the lights and went into Claudia's room. She'd already changed into her pajamas, a baggy pair of red plaid pants and a long sleeved thermal shirt.

"Put your stuff down anywhere," she said. "Welcome to my humble motel room. Let me show you around."

"That's okay, it looks exactly like mine," Steve replied. He motioned to the bathroom. "I'm going to change."

"Don't change too much," Claudia said, sinking down onto the bed nearest to the door, and Steve chuckled. It was cheesy, but it was nice. Normal, like any other day when one of them didn't die or nearly get killed.

After he finished in the bathroom, he walked into the main room in his white undershirt and navy blue cotton pajama bottoms. He started for the bed closest to him, but Claudia motioned for him to come closer.

"I'm okay," she said carefully, "but that was a little closer to death than I typically like to be. You being here isn't just for your benefit."

She didn't have to say anything else. Wordlessly, Steve climbed into bed with her. She snuggled against him and he turned off the light. It didn't take long for Claudia to fall asleep, but Steve stayed a wake for a long time, just feeling her breathe, knowing she was alive and safe.

5.  
Steve was nearly asleep when the door to his open opened, the light from the hall right in his face. He squinted and held a hand up over his eyes so he could see the outline of a person standing there. "Claudia?"

"I'm coming in," she said before he could even offer and slipped into the room, shutting the door behind her. She crossed the room in the dark and got into bed with him.

"What's going on?" Steve asked. He wrapped an arm around her, though it was warm in the B&B, despite the air conditioning. It was almost habit now.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied. "Do you know what tomorrow is?"

He paused, considering the date. Tomorrow was a Wednesday, but he couldn't think of anything special about it. "No, what's--"

"What were you doing this time last year?" Claudia asked. Not giving him a chance to respond, she barrelled on, "You don't remember because you were dead."

It was true that he didn't remember dying, and he certainly hadn't kept track of the dates. It wasn't surprising, however, that Claudia would remember. He knew it wasn't his fault, that he'd only been doing his job, and had no control over whether or not someone would murder him in the middle of his mission, but sometimes he felt a little guilty for putting her through that. It had been hard enough to tell her off, to create distance between them in order to make the undercover job possible, but to end it with his own death? At least he'd been able to tell her the truth before it happened. He wouldn't have been able to predict resurrection, and the idea that she thought he was a traitor (even knowing he was doing right by her, it hurt when she called him that) when he died would have been beyon awful.

Even now, he ached a little when he thought about it. "But I'm not dead anymore."

Claudia placed her hand on Steve's chest, feeling his heartbeat through his shirt. "I know," she replied softly.

He touched her hair and smiled, though she wouldn't be able to see it in the darkness. "And I have you to thank for that. No regrets, right?"

She laughed, albeit sadly. "No, Jinksy, not even a little. I'd do it all over again. I love you."

He pulled her closer and rested his chin atop her head. "I love you, too, Claud. I love you, too."


End file.
